The pros and cons of oat drink
Oat drink, oat drink or oat milk: whatever you want to call the drink, it is popular in any case. But is it also that healthy? And is oat drink more sustainable than cow’s milk? Five questions and answers about oat drink.
1. What is oat drink or oat milk made of?
Oat drink consists of a combination of water and oat flakes. The oat flakes are soaked in the water. These are then mashed and sieved. The white liquid that remains is the oat drink. Calcium, an acidity regulator, a stabilizer and vitamins D and B12 are often added to this. Although no sugars are usually added to the drink, oat drinks generally contain more sugars than cow’s milk. Oat drink does not contain lactose.
2. Is oat drink more sustainable than cow’s milk?
It is difficult to measure the sustainability and environmental impact of a product, because there are several factors involved. Land use, water use and CO2 emissions need to be considered. Several studies have shown that cow’s milk requires more land than oat milk. This is not only because a cow uses land, but also needs feed that has to be grown on the land. For the same reason cow’s milk requires more water. Water is also needed to produce the cow’s food. CO2 emissions also appear to be higher when making cow’s milk. Because methane, a gas found in cow dung and farts, is also included, the emissions are twice as high as when producing oat milk.
Another factor is transport. If the cow’s milk comes from the Netherlands and the oat milk comes from another continent, then the cow’s milk is of course less harmful to the environment. Often oat milk does not come from far, because oats can be grown well on European land.
3. Is oat drink or oat milk healthy?
If you make your own oat drink, it won’t be as nutritious as cow’s milk. This is because the vitamins and minerals you find in cow’s milk are not in oat flakes. You should then get these vitamins and minerals, mainly vitamin D, B12 and calcium, from other foods. These vitamins and minerals have been added to the oat drink in the supermarket. However, these are only an enrichment of the product. If you’re getting little or none of the vitamins and minerals, supplements should be considered.
4. Is oat drink gluten free?
Oats are naturally gluten-free, so oat drinks should in principle be too. Still, oat products often contain gluten. This is because oats often become contaminated with gluten from, for example, wheat, barley and rye during production. This does not mean that there are no gluten-free oat products. When an oat product, including oat drink, is gluten-free, it is explicitly stated on the packaging.
5. How do I make oat drink myself?
You can easily make oat drink yourself. To do this, add one part oats to nine parts water. Let this soak for 15 minutes and then puree it with an immersion blender or in a blender. Pass the oat drink through a strainer, tea towel or nut milk bag. With the pulp that remains, you can bake cookies and make granola, but you can also just eat it with some (vegetable) yogurt, fruit and other toppings.
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